Context (CMS Context)
From the collection of F.O. Lechmere Oertel and presented to MAA by his granddaughter, Mrs Rosemary MacLarty. Lechmere Oertel had excavated the lion capital, at the Buddhist site of Sarnath, which had been placed on top of the Asoka pillar by the Emperor Ashoka, c. 250 BCE. A graphic representation of the capital was adopted as the official Emblem of India in 1950. The original capital is now in the Sarnath Museum though the pillar is still in situ.
Event Date 15/12/2015
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
Elephant ivory model of the Ashoka Lion Capital of Sarnath, featuring four Asiatic lions standing back to back, and secured to a wooden base
Event Date 15/12/2015
Author: maa

Conservation (Surface Clean)
CON.2016.3558 | Surface Clean
Event Date 11/10/2016
Author: Rachel Howie

Description (CMS Description)
Ivory model of Ashoka Lion Capital of Sarnath
Event Date 7/12/2016
Author: maa

Description (Display)
'Another India: Explorations and Expressions of Indigenous South Asia' 07/03/2017 - 22/04/2018 MAA exhibition label text reads:

Souvenirs and Symbols

Engineer and archaeologist Frederick Oscar Lechmere-Oertel gave an eclectic collection to MAA in 1930, acquired during a long and varied career in India. Artefacts he collected appear throughout this exhibition: from examples of ‘tribal art’ to statues of Hindu deities; pieces of the Taj Mahal to the future symbol of the Republic of India.

4. Emblem of the Republic of India

Oertel excavated the Lion capital of Asoka, now the emblem of the Republic of India, in 1905. This ivory replica commemorated his discovery.

Presented to F. Lechmere-Oertel
Donated by Rosemary McLarty
2015.299
Event Date 22/3/2017
Author: remke Velden

Exhibition (Li Ka Shing Gallery)
EXH.2017.2 | Another India: Explorations and Expressions of Indigenous South Asia
Event Date 8/3/2017
Author: Remke Velden